Cam Fowler hasn’t piled up the points yet this season, but the Blues are still leaning hard on him early in 2026-27.
Through the first five games, Fowler has no points, a stat line that stands out even more because he’s led the team in minutes. That usage has come with a bigger opportunity on the second power-play unit, where head coach Jim Montgomery made the call to trust Fowler over Colton Parayko and Philip Broberg.
That kind of workload looked a lot different before the season began. Fowler was projected as more of a second- or third-pair defenseman, the type who could help guide Logan Mailloux, Theo Lindstein, or Adam Jiricek. Instead, he has taken on a far more important role, and that expanded responsibility has only grown since Mailloux went down with a hand injury that will keep him out at least eight weeks.
The lack of early offense is a little jarring when you zoom out to what Fowler did a year ago. In 2024-25, the Blues’ midseason move to bring him in for a second-round pick changed their season. He quickly jumped onto the top pair with Colton Parayko and went from the worst campaign of his Anaheim tenure to finishing with a team-high 36 points among defensemen and a plus-19 in just 51 games.
He carried that momentum into the playoffs, too. Fowler led all Blues defensemen with 10 points in the seven-game series and was getting top-pair minutes while also looking like their most dangerous weapon on the power play.
That was why a 2025-26 season with just 4 goals, 26 assists, and a minus-11 mark felt like a step back. His minutes also dipped into more of a low-end second-pair range, which only reinforced the sense that the offensive spark had faded.
This season, though, the early signs aren’t all bad. Fowler has been steady defensively, which matters even more with such a young blue line around him. He’s helped ease that burden, and his skating still pops - he remains in the 79th percentile for max skating speed at 21.37 and has looked explosive moving around the ice.
Still, the Blues need more than stability from him, especially with Mailloux unavailable. Fowler doesn’t bring enough physical impact to offset a quiet stick, and if the offense doesn’t follow, that power play will stay stuck waiting for a jolt.
For now, Fowler looks like he’s flashing pieces of the player who took over in 2024-25. The real question is whether the production catches up.
For St. Louis, that might end up being the difference between a playoff team and one left on the outside looking in.
In Other News...
Blues Power Play Has One Fix Jim Montgomery May Need Now
The early-season power play has been a quiet drag on the Blues, and the numbers say plenty about why the frustration is building. Through the first stretch of the 2026-27 season, St. Louis has converted just once in 11 man-advantage chances, a rough start that has left the unit searching for cleaner zone entries, better puck movement and more dangerous looks around the net.
Jim Montgomery has options to consider, and the conversation around the blue line is getting louder. One possibility is shifting the puck-moving burden away from Adam Jiricek and Cam Fowler and toward Colton Parayko and Philip Broberg, a tweak aimed at giving the Blues a sturdier setup and more pressure once they get into the offensive zone, which could be the kind of adjustment that steadies the group before the numbers become a bigger problem. [Read more 🡒]
Cam Fowlers Quiet Start Is Hiding A Bigger Blues Story
Cam Fowlers first five games have not shown up on the scoresheet, but the early picture is more encouraging than the blank point column suggests. The veteran defenseman has logged the most average ice time on the St. Louis blue line, and the underlying numbers have been strong enough to explain why the coaching staff keeps leaning on him in all situations. Even with the quiet start, Fowler has looked like a stabilizing presence, especially in tandem with Brandon Carlo, where the Blues have controlled play at a high level.
The lack of offense has more to do with shooting luck than any real drop-off in impact. Fowler has been effective defensively and on the penalty kill, helping St. Louis survive tough minutes while waiting for the puck to bounce a little differently. If that finishing touch comes around, the Blues may find that the real story is not a cold start at all, but a reliable defenseman doing a lot of important work before the points catch up. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Holloway Is Giving The Blues Something They Needed Early
Dylan Holloway has already given the Blues a little of the pace and pressure they were looking for early this season. Through the first five games, he has been around the puck, finishing checks and getting pucks to the net while settling into a top offensive line with Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud.
The broader value has shown up in the standings, too, with Holloway helping spark the kind of response St. Louis needed to snap a three-game slide. As the Blues head into a three-game road trip that starts in Ottawa, his early impact is the sort of detail that can make a lineup feel a little deeper and a little harder to handle. [Read more 🡒]